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Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

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The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

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AUDIENCE SCORE

Albatross Videos

Albatross Photos

Movie Info

Directed by BAFTA-nominated Niall MacCormick (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Road to Finchley), Albatross is a funny and moving coming-of-age story starring Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others, Black Book), Felicity Jones (Cemetery Junction), Julia Ormond (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and newcomer Jessica Brown-Findlay, a leading light in Screen International's prestigious UK Stars of Tomorrow list. My Summer of Love meets An Education, the film tells the story of a family whose world is turned upside down when the beautiful and rebellious Emelia explodes into their lives. -- (C) Official Site

There are dimensions to Emelia that are welcome, but often rudely condensed by director Niall McCormick, who burns through the picture in 85 minutes, never lingering long enough on domestic tension or behavioral awareness.

Audience Reviews for Albatross

½

"Albatross" starts with a kiss between Emilia Conan Doyle(Jessica Brown Findlay) and Jake(Harry Treadaway) before the firecrackers. That explains why Emilia gets to ride in a police car on the way to her first day of work as a maid at a guesthouse where Beth(Felicity Jones) is tending the front desk while studying, so her dad(Sebastian Koch) can pretend he is writing upstairs while actually masturbating. So, it is a surprise to Beth's mother(Julia Ormond) that Emilia gets invited round to dinner, to which she brings a bottle of wine that she flashed her ID for.
"Albatross" starts promisingly enough but then stalls in a sea of quirkiness. That's not to mention going the old tired route of a disruptive force introduced to a family going nowhere and liberating everybody. And with predictable results. Plus stereotypes. The writing angle might have had a chance if played correctly which it isn't as it is thrown to the curbside in the most desultory manner imaginable. Instead, it seems all the characters are suffering under the weight of the past, especially Beth who has to deal with her parents. However, the actors do a good job trying to breathe life into such cliches while very much out of their usual comfort zones. Nice scenery, though.

Walter M.

Super Reviewer

½

Decent movie. A little slow. Nice ending...

Cynthia S.

Super Reviewer

Excellent movie free spirited girl meets strictly raised girl and the fun begins, all while the free spirited girl has an affair with girls father, my review sucks the movie is outstanding, a must see. 5 stars 10-1-12

Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

Cast: Felicity Jones, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Sebastian Koch, Julia Ormond, Harry Treadaway, Josef Altin
Director: Niall MacCormick
Summary: The studious life of Oxford-bound Beth is turned upside down when would-be novelist Emelia takes a job at the seaside hotel owned by Beth's family. But things get dicey when the free-spirited Emelia begins a fling with Beth's feckless father.
My Thoughts: "I enjoyed the characters more then I did the film itself, if that makes sense. The problem I had was the relationship that unfolds between Emeilia and Johnathan. I just didn't like it nor did I really think it was necessary. Being a daddy's girl myself, I thought Beth and her father's relationship was sweet. Her mother was a, well I don't wanna use such vulgar words considering I have been warned. But you must know what I was gonig to say. *cough bitch* : } Emeilia is my favorite character in the movie because I seem to lean towards the more tortured souls. Although she is smart and has a talent for writing, she is stuck. Stuck with no real education, since she was kicked out of school, and stuck taking care of her grandparents and with dead end jobs. So you want to root for her and for things to get better for her as well. I liked Beth as well, and the two together had a nice balanced friendship. Great acting and characters with an OK story-line makes this movie worth seeing at least once."